Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 114467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 572(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 572(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
When I walk into the rink after one, I look around and see that it’s very different from when I walked in here a month ago. Everyone is back to the grind. I’m also wearing my new suit that got delivered to me this morning along with two outfits that Zara rush ordered. “Hey,” I say to Matthew who comes out of his office and hits me head on.
“Hey,” he says, looking me up and down. “That the new suit?”
I look at him confused. “How did you know?”
“Group text,” he says and then shakes his head. “The girls are in a group text chatting back and forth about suits. Zoe was planning to murder Zara, and she was going over different ways to do it. Anyway, you ready for tomorrow?”
“No,” I answer him quietly and look around. “I guess it’s the nerves.”
“Yeah,” he says and then looks down. “It’s just the monkey on your back. As soon as you hit the ice and score, it’ll be fine.” I think about what he says, and for the first time in my life, I think about what it would be like not to score. To be sober and suck on the ice.
“Let’s hope,” I tell him, and he grabs my shoulder, squeezing it and walks away toward another office. I finally get in the locker room and sit down when Evan struts in.
“I hate road trips,” he says, sitting next to me and putting his bag on the floor. He then looks over at me. “I just dropped Zara off at Zoe’s.”
“She isn’t staying home?” I ask him.
“No, she has some appointments in the city, and it’s easier for her. Plus, I have reassurance that someone is taking care of her.” He grabs a drink off the cart in the middle of the room. “Don’t tell her I said that, or I’ll deny it.”
“Your secret is safe with me,” I say, sitting here and waiting for everyone to gather.
Oliver, our public relations man, comes in, clapping his hands “Put away all important packages.” He laughs at his own joke, covering his private area with his hands over his bright blue suit with white stripes. “Listen up, gentlemen. We are leaving in twenty minutes. The bus is already here, so you can load it now if you would like. Once we get to the hotel, the manager will be there to give us the keys to your rooms. Rookies, good news. You get roommates,” he says, and then I hear the rookies moan.
“Count yourself lucky,” I say. “LA always has that policy,” I tell them, and some of them raise their eyebrows. I was always with my partner in crime. Easier to be roommates with someone who was also an addict and easier to hide when you would get up and snort a line of coke instead of having to hide in the bathroom every ten minutes to get a hit.
“See,” Oliver says, pointing at me. “It could be worse. There is also a team dinner tonight. More on that to follow,” he says, turning. “See you out there.”
“Here we go, boys,” Evan says, walking out of the room, and the rest of us follow his lead as we make our way out to the bus. Once there, I store my bag in the bottom hatch and climb the stairs onto the bus. Sitting in an empty seat, I grab my phone and go through my emails. I have to start answering some of these. “Holy shit. You have twenty-one thousand emails?” Evan says once he sits in the seat next to me.
“Yeah,” I say, scrolling through them and not knowing where to start.
“You should hire someone to take care of that.” I look over at Evan who shakes his head. “My sister Candace takes care of all mine plus my social media account. The only thing I work is my Instagram.”
“Really?” I ask him.
“Yeah. At first, she only did me, but then when I left, she started her own company. She has about twenty clients now. If you want, I can ask her if she’s taking on any other clients.”
“I think I need it,” I say truthfully. “Let me know what she says.” I put my phone away because just the thought of it makes my head spin.
The bus ride goes by fast, and the flight goes by faster. The only ones really excited about this are the rookies. When we get to the hotel, I grab my key and go to my room. It’s a standard room with a king-size bed and a desk. After dumping the bag on my bed, I sit down next to it. I’m out of my comfort zone and out of my safety net by not being at home. My heart starts to beat just a touch faster at first, and then it’s pounding while my hands get clammy. I rub them together and ignore the burning in my stomach and the weight on my chest. I reach inside my jacket pocket and grab my chip. My fingers rubbing over the words 90 days over and over again. I start to count to ease my mind when the phone rings in my pocket. Taking it out, I see it’s a FaceTime request from Zoe.